This post is of a certain opinion that may not apply to all and many may not even agree with.
That said - I always recommend spending the time to plan, plan again, and way overbuild your show. Almost to an obsessive point. I'm not talking about pixel counts or too many controllers. I'm talking about structures and securing props.
There are many ways to build bigger structures (like mega trees) - when planning your structures - consider your climate and how to secure it. What works for us may not work for you. However - always over plan, over engineer, and overbuild.
An example - a 20ft megatree (plus star) seemed a bit questionable with an ASAP kit where we live. Our climate can include winds that exceed 70mph, snow, and freezing rain - all in the same day. Our solution was a 20ft radio tower, 600lbs of concrete, a 10ft trampoline base with an additional 400lbs of concrete - 3/8" steel cable that runs to 5ft steel stakes pounded into the ground.
With that said - I'm going to talk about how we attach our props to our house at our personal show. This requires a bit of a commitment for (minor) modifications to your house, PVC pipe, bolts, and zip ties.
We use Sammy's anchors - and install these (or shorter versions, depending on location - buy what you need) into the house where we plan to have props.
The prop will get a PVC frame made - and either zip tied from the coro to the frame or, depending on prop and pixel tightness/density, from the pixel wiring to the pvc frame. Holes are drilled through the PVC pipe and 3" bolts with wingnuts inserted through the PVC holes and threaded into the Sammy's anchors.
Obviously you would want to install the anchors after the prop is framed out and ready to hang, but you get the idea. When these are being installed - we drill a pilot hole, fill it with silicone (allowing it to spill over to the surface) then drill in the anchor, ensuring enough silicone surrounds the hardware. This ensures a waterproof install.
This method DOES leave (semi) permanent hardware in your house. However, removal of a prop is simply loosening/removing the bolts (usually 3-4 per prop, even heavier HD props) and taking the prop down.
This method allows you to use the same frames between holidays and swap the props out - and simple install of a few bolts into the hardware year after year.
As a note - I mention this is 'semi' permanent because your type of siding may determine how permanent. Drilling through vinyl will leave a permanent hole. Drilling through wood/fiber cement board will allow you to remove the hardware, fill the hole, and paint over if ever needed.
These are only opinions and ideas of how we have built a weatherproof show that sees a variety of extreme weathers.
Happy, and safe, building!
